Mute Doesn't Mean Meek
by prasinus corvus
Summary: What if Danny wasn't the only one to have an accident in the lab? What if he had a twin sister that had one before he did? Would she tell him her secret or help him without him knowing it was her? Would she do anything, or would she let him believe his mute sister wasn't capable of taking care of herself? Rated T for language
1. Mystery Meat

"So how long has it been since you saw her?" Sam, one of my best friends, asked from beside me.

My other best friend Tucker responded for me from Sam's other side. "Six years if you don't count the brief visit three months ago that led to her being in the hospital."

"Did you ever find out what happened that day?"

"She was alone and she can't talk. Kinda makes it hard to know anything." I told her. "I also haven't been to see her the entire time she's been there."

"And whose fault is that?" She questioned.

I had nothing to say to that. Even without actually saying it I knew what she meant. I'd gone six years without having hardly any contact with my own sister. Twin sister at that.

I was about to say something else but then my dad began on some lesson he had wanted to give us. "So Danny, you and your little friends want to hunt ghosts?"

"Uh, actually, Dad, I want to be an astronaut." I corrected.

Then Sam went on with, "Sorry, Mr. Fenton. I was into ghosts, but they're so mainstream now. They're like cellphones."

"Waste all these looks and charisma hunting ghosts? Criminal." Tucker commented.

"Well, if you do want to hunt ghosts there are a few things you need to learn," he continued as if we hadn't said anything while messing with some beakers on a table. We all just sat in our chairs bored while my dad went on his rant.

Until my ghost sense went off that is. "Oh no, this isn't good."

Two ectopusses came out of the ghost portal in the wall and grabbed Sam and Tucker out of their chairs. I had no choice but to change into my ghost form and attack the ectopusses while my dad talked, not knowing what was happening behind him.

Sam and Tucker fell back into their chairs as I fought the ghosts and send the two ghosts back to the Ghost Zone before my dad noticed. In the end, my two friends were shaking in their chairs while I stood next to Tucker panting as I held his chair for support. How my dad missed everything that happened I'll never understand, but I'm not complaining.

* * *

While everything downstairs happened, a phone was ringing upstairs. Jazz Fenton, a sixteen year-old girl with red hair and teal eyes, was the only person to hear it.

"Hello. No, this is her older sister. She is? Alright, I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and sighed. She grabbed her keys and made her way out the door and to her car where she promptly drove to Amity Park Hospital. The red headed teen made her way to the front desk where she told the receptionist, "Hi, I'm here to pick up my younger sister, Nyx Fenton."

The woman maintained a constant smile as she typed a few things into the computer before telling Jazz, "It appears all the paperwork has been handled. All you need to do is sign here," she slid Jazz a paper, "saying she was released to a legal guardian. Then your sister may leave when she like."

Jazz signed and said her thanks to the woman for her help and made her way to the room she knew her sister to be in. The door to the room was already open when jazz got there, but she still knocked on the door frame enough to alert the younger girl sitting on the bed of her presence.

When Nyx's silver-gray eyes landed on her sister at the door she couldn't help the grin that spread over her face. Jazz had been the only family member that had bothered to keep in contact with Nyx during the girl's time in the hospital and when she'd been away at a private school a few states away. She wasn't too surprised to see her older sister came alone, she probably would've gone into shock if her whole family showed up.

"Ready to go home?" Jazz asked her.

Nyx nodded. Despite the fact it had been years since Nyx thought of Fenton Works as her home she was ready to go back. She quickly grabbed her bag of possessions the hospital had allowed her to have and walked with Jazz out of the room. The two sisters made their way to Jazz's car, but before they could get in Nyx stopped her sister and started to use sign language.

" _They forgot, didn't they?"_ She had a feeling she already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it.

Jazz looked down for a second but nodded in response. She'd always been honest with Nyx, a quality the younger girl appreciated, no matter how much the truth hurt.

Jazz was surprised when she felt her sister hugging her. " _Thank you for remembering and not lying to me."_

The siblings then headed for Fenton Works with Jazz asking Nyx questions about how she's doing and how she felt about going to a public school rather than private. She made sure to keep questions answerable with 'yes' and 'no' so all Nyx had to do was nod as apposed to signing and having Jazz take her eyes off the road to watch what she's saying. Jazz also updated Nyx on what's been happening with the family and around town, though there was little to tell since Jazz didn't go more than a few days without talking to her sister.

At some point the two had decided to get something to eat on the way to Fenton Works and by the time they got home it was already late with everyone else asleep inside the house.

Nyx looked up at the giant monstrosity that was Fenton Works and wondered briefly what her life would have been like if she hadn't had an accident in the lab that had cost her her voice and changed her life in more ways than one. How would she have matured? Would she still have the same relationships she has with her siblings? Would she actually know anything about Danny, her own twin?

Though all these thoughts ran through her head, she quickly banished them. She'd learned a long time ago it's best not to dwell on what could have been. It was better to look at what could still be.

She felt Jazz put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay to be scared you know. You've barely had contact with them for six years, I'd be scared too."

" _I'm not scared,"_ she signed, " _it's just odd to be back after so long, for good this time."_

The two sisters went inside and to their respective rooms, both hoping nothing would cause Nyx to leave again.

* * *

After years of having to wake-up before the sun rose, Nyx was awake and ready before the rest of the house even began to stir. Her old school had started earlier than most making Nyx start the day before the day had truly began.

Instead of staying at the house and waiting for the rest of the Fentons to join the waking world Selene wrote a note and left it on Jazz _'_ s bedside table, grabbed a fruit from the kitchen, and walked out the door. She intended to take a walk around the area to re-familiarize herself a bit and arrive at school early enough to notify her teachers and get used to the school.

* * *

The Fenton family was at the kitchen table a few hours later. Jazz was reading a book called 'Surviving Adolescence Through Therapy' and using it to block the sparks her mother, Maddie, was making with a blowtorch while working on another invention.

Danny, Jazz's little brother and Nyx's twin, was eating cereal with a bored look on his face...until his hand turned intangible without his intent and made him drop his spoon in his bowl. He let out a sound of shock when he noticed his missing hand and hid it behind his back before anyone noticed.

"Okay," Maddie said with a chipper voice, "two more days and it's done."

"What did you say? It's done!" came the excited voice of Jack, the father of the three siblings, as he held up the invention. "The Fenton Finder is done! This baby uses satellites to lead you right to the ghost."

One very important thing about Jack and Maddie Fenton, they were obsessed with ghosts. They were inventors whose only goal was to hunt, capture, dissect, and destroy ghosts.

"It uses what to track what?" Danny's voice was weak with an underlying tone of fear.

A robotic voice then said, "Welcome to the Fenton Finder. A ghost is near. Walk forward." Danny began to walk backwards with a worried look on his face as his parents stepped closer to him with excited looks. "Ghost located. Thank you for using the Fenton Finder."

Danny had backed up till he had nowhere else to go. He gave a sheepish smile while his parents looked the device in confusion.

"What? Oh, that can't be right." Jack said.

Danny accidentally turned invisible but reappeared before his parents noticed. He grew scared before he resigned himself stared to tell his parents the truth. "Actually, I need to tell you guys something."

"That's not all you need, Danny." Jazz said closing her book. "You need guidance and parents who can provide it.

"Sweetie, I know what we do doesn't make sense sometimes, but you're only-" Maddie was cut off by Jazz.

"Sixteen. Biologically, but psychologically I'm an adult and I will not allow your insane obsession with ghosts pollute the the mind of this impressionability little child. Come, you abused unwanted wretch, I'll drive you to school." She held Danny close to her while giving her parents a hard stare. She'd thought about bringing up Nyx but decided against it. They'd realize they forgot her and that she's back soon enough.

* * *

Casper High, the only high school in Amity Park and the place all three Fenton children are without all of them being aware of the fact.

Danny was walking with Sam and Tucker through the halls while talking about what he should do. "I think I should tell them." He felt as though it might be better to just be honest with his family rather than hiding the fact he was half-ghost.

"Why?" Sam, ever the most cautious of the three, asked. "Parents don't listen. Even worse, they don't understand. Why can't they accept me for who I am?!"

"Uh, Sam, I'm talking about my powers, my problems, " Danny reminded her.

"Oh, right," she recalled, "me too."

"It's been a month since the accident and I still barely have any control. If somebody catches me I go from geek to freak around here." As he said this his legs turned intangible and caused him to starrt sinking through the floor.

"Kinda like what you're doing now." Tucker pointed out Danny's current state to himself.

Sam and Tucker lifted Danny out of the floor as his legs appeared again.

"Darn it," he muttered. "If my dad could invent something that accidentally made me half-ghost, why can't he invent something that can turn me back to normal?" He accidentally turned intangible before walking into a soda machine and stepping out with a down look on his face.

"Danny, your powers make you unique." Sam told him, "Unique is good. That's why I'm and ultra recyclo-vegetarian." Sam took great pride in being different, in standing out. Everything from her lifestyle choices to the clothes she wore set her apart from others.

"Which means what?" Tucker had no idea what she was talking about.

"She doesn't eat anything with a face on it," Danny told him.

Tucker was just the opposite. "Oh, who cares about that stuff? Danny, two words: meat connoisseur." He pointed at himself with a grin before sniffing the air around his best friend. "Last night, you had sloppy joes."

"Impressive."

"Meat heightens the senses, and my all meat streak is fourteen years long." Similar to how Sam took pride in being different, Tucker took pride in his love for meat.

Sam was unimpressed by Tucker's display smelling meat. "And it's about to end. The school board finally agreed to try a new cafeteria menu. I wore them down."

"Wait, what did you do?"

The three of them didn't know they were being followed by an invisible figure that had heard and seen everything they'd said and done.

* * *

Throughout the entire morning Nyx had been able to find some way of communicating with all of her teachers while seeming to simultaneously go unnoticed by her brother and his friends, though the rest of their peers weren't as oblivious. Her sudden appearance and looks were enough to spark the interests of nearly every student in the school. By lunch time, the student body was buzzing with the rumor of a new girl that no one knew anything about.

The first any of the three had heard about the girl was while waiting in line for lunch. Being the most unpopular kids in the entire school meant that Danny, Sam, and Tucker didn't hear about anything unless they overheard someone else talking about it.

"Who is everyone talking about?" Danny asked his friends.

Sam and tucker shrugged. "No clue./Don't care." Tucker and Sam respectively said at the same time.

"Probably just another brainless popular of higher social status than us." Sam didn't care about anything that had to do with popularity and, therefore, no interest in whoever the new girl was.

"Sam's probably right," Tucker agreed. "Though that's not hard when being compared to us."

The three didn't discuss the topic anymore as they moved through the line, each of them getting what appeared to be a piece of bread with grass growing on top of it.

"What is this?" Danny asked looking down at it. "Grass on a bun?"

"What have you done!?" Tucker exclaimed to Sam.

Sam smirked at him. "Tucker," she held up her food, "it's time for a change."

* * *

Unknown to everyone, back at Fenton Works a ghost that looked like a lunch lady walked out of the Fenton portal in the basement and said, "Oh, somebody changed the menu." She then floated out of the building.

* * *

Back at the school cafeteria sitting at a table in the middle of everyone reading a book was Nyx. The table she was at was empty, not because she was a loner or considered a loser, but because no one was brave enough to talk to her. Those that didn't see her as too pretty were unsettled by her silver-gray eyes or simply hadn't tried yet.

Nyx didn't care. She'd never needed many friends or company in general. It was also hard to have relationships of any kind with people unless they knew sign language or were okay with reading everything she wanted to convey. In some ways she was glad she couldn't talk, it helped her know who her true friends were since only they would be willing to go to such lengths to be her friend.

She also enjoyed just watching other people around her. The book in front of her was just for show. Her attention was actually focused on her brother and his friends at the table next to hers. Their conversation was rather boring compared to the one they'd had earlier, but that didn't bother her. She knew it would change eventually, and she was proven right when a blue wisp escaped Danny's mouth.

"Uh, guys, I have a problem," he said. Then he got hit on the head with a bunch of mud while someone screamed his last name. "Make that two problems." He corrected and turned around.

Dash Baxter stormed up to him with a tray of what looked like mud from Nyx's perspective. "I ordered three mud pies. Do you know what they gave me? Three _**mud**_ pies! With _**mud**_! From the _**ground**_! All because of your girlfriend!"

"She's not my girlfriend." Danny stated.

"I'm not his girlfriend." Sam added.

All Nyx did was grin at the jock's misfortune, he probably deserved it.

Dash grabbed Danny by his shirt collar. "These are the best years of my life. After high school it's all down hill for me. How am I supposed to enjoy my glory days eating mud!?"

"Actually, it's topsoil," Sam corrected.

"Whatever." Dash threw Danny back in his seat. He put his tray of mud in front of Danny and said, "Eat it. All of it."

Everyone in the cafeteria watched as Danny brought the spoon up as if he was going to eat it, but Nyx saw another blue wisp escape his mouth before he did. He suddenly yelled, "Garbage fight!" and threw the tray right in Dash's face. The room erupted in cheers as everyone started chucking food everywhere.

Nyx ducked beneath a table as soon the food started flying, as did Danny. She saw Danny pull Sam down with him and Tucker and watched as the three crawled to the door for the kitchen area and disappeared. Nyx knew why they decided to go in there but debated whether or not to get involved. Choosing to follow, Nyx began to make her way across the cafeteria.

Inside the kitchen Danny, Sam, and Tucker came across The Lunch Lady who seemed very kind and polite at first but quickly showed how evil she was when Tucker told her Sam changed the menu.

"Get behind me," Danny commanded his friends. "I'm going ghost!" Two white rings appeared around his waist and spread in opposite directions over his body. His white and red t-shirt, light blue jeans, and red and white tennis shoes changed to a black and white hazmat suit and white boots. His hair went from black to white while his blue eyes became neon green.

The newly transformed into Danny Phantom flew into the air to confront his opponent. At the same moment, Nyx stepped through the door without anyone noticing.

Danny pointed to The Lunch Lady and yelled, "I command you to go go away."

Nyx nearly face palmed at his words. _'Did he really expect that to work?'_ She thought.

The Lunch Lady ignored him and made the dishes on the counter fly at him. He quickly managed to turn intangible and let the dishes pass right through him and smash into the wall. He smiled at his small success.

Sam, however, didn't have the ability to use when the plates started flying towards her. Lucky for her, Danny swooped in front of her and caught all the plates on his arms and with his tail that replaced his legs. The same happened with Tucker, but there were so many plates Danny had to catch a few in his mouth.

The same couldn't be said for Nyx. The teens hadn't even noticed she was in the room until plates started flying towards her.

Even if Danny could hold more plates he couldn't get to her in time. Luckily, he didn't have to.

A third ghost none of the teens had seen before grabbed Nyx and pulled her out of the way and beside Sam and Tucker.

Danny put all the plates back on the counter they were originally on. "Well, if this superhero thing doesn't work out I could have an exciting career as a busboy." He said while looking at the plates that were formally in his mouth.

The ovens behind the ghost started shaking. "I control lunch!" The Lunch Lady yelled. "Lunch is scared! Lunch has rules!" Her tone suddenly softened. "Anybody want cake?"

Sam and Tucker nodded slowly, their faces showing their shock while Nyx and the other ghost just glared at her.

"Too bad!" Lunch Lady shouted. "Children who change my menu do not get dessert!" She then phased through the ceiling while the ovens had green flames burst from their tops and insides.

The ovens became monstrous with teeth and eyes as they flew towards the group of teens. Green fire was shot at the teens, but they all managed to jump out of the way in time. But when the ovens came closer Danny grabbed Sam and Tucker and the other ghost grabbed Nyx and phased them all out of the way through the wall.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker rolled a bit before landing in a heap. Nyx and the other ghost actually landed on their feet as if this was a normal thing.

"Hey, it worked!" Danny exclaimed as he stood with a grin.

"This is the thanks I get for thinking like an individual," Sam exclaimed.

"You're not very good at this are you?" A female voice asked from beside them.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker turned and finally got a good look at the two figures that appeared during the fight. One was a ghost and the other was a human, and both were girls.

The human girl had long raven black hair, silver-gray eyes, and was slightly tall for her age. She wore a navy blue one shoulder tank top that showed her mid-drift, black skinny jeans with a loosely hanging chain, and black combat boots that weren't as bulky as Sam's. Five or six earrings could be seen in each ear, as well as a black crystal necklace, and a charm bracelet on her left wrist.

The ghost girl's white hair progressively turned purple towards the bottom which matched her violet eyes. Her black long sleeved top also showed her mid-drift and had a thick dark purple-blue streak running diagonally across her torso. Her black pants were form fitting, had a similar streak to the one on her shirt, and were tucked into white boots that matched her white gloves. The feature that was a dead give away that she was a ghost was her light blue skin.

"Who the heck are you?" Three voices asked in unison.

The ghost girl just raised her eyebrow and said, "You're new at this, aren't you?"

"That didn't answer our question," Sam stated.

"It wasn't supposed to," she shot back. She turned to leave, Nyx following not far behind.

"Where the heck are you two going?" Danny demanded.

The ghost girl didn't even bother turning around as she called back, "Anywhere but here. Neither of us are going to wait for the demon lunch lady to come back. Have fun dealing with her." She then grabbed Nyx by the arm and phased them both through a wall.

"Well that was odd." Sam said.

"We can worry about them later. We need to-" Danny didn't get to finish before the lights went out and sent sparks raining down on them. Lockers slammed open, their contents flying out and towards the Lunch lady floating at the end of the hall.

School supplies weren't the only things flying, however. Different types of meat from the teacher's lounge, which Tucker managed to name just by smell, were flying with the books and papers. All the meat converged on the Lunch Lady until she was covered in layer of various meats.

"Prepare to learn why meat is the most powerful of the five food groups!" The giant meat monster yelled while pointing to Sam. "Cookie?" Sam shook her head. After losing the slightly puzzled look from that response, "Then parish!"

"Forget it," Danny said jumping in front of Sam. "The only thing that has an expiration date around here is you!" He pointed at the monster as head spoke and made his hand into a fist when he finished. Sparks then started on his fist and spread over his hand, arm, and eventually entire body, turning him human. "Whoops, I didn't mean to do that."

The meat monster threw Danny at Tucker against the lockers who were then covered in papers. The Lunch Lady grabbed Sam in her giant hand and disappeared down the hall.

"Come on," Tucker commanded, "change back, we gotta go."

Tucker and Danny felt a hand on the backs of their shirt collars. "You two aren't going anywhere." Mr. Lancer, the vice principle of Casper High, held them both to prevent them getting away.

Dash had told Mr. Lancer they were the ones responsible for the cafeteria and it wasn't really a lie. "Told you you'd pay, Fenton."

The two girls were just around the corner and had seen and heard the whole thing. "Apparently those two don't know how to get anything done." The ghost girl smirked. "Guess that means I'll just have to bail them out."

* * *

A few minutes later the two girls were standing in a room while Tucker and Danny were sitting and waiting for punishment. They were both invisible and not known to be there by anyone, even Danny whose ghost sense didn't go off in response to the ghost girl's proximity at all.

"Tucker Foley. Chronic tardiness, talking in class, repeated loitering by the girl's locker room." Mr. Lancer read from a file. "Danny Fenton. Thirty-four dropped beakers in the last month, banded for life from handling any fragile school property but no severe mischief before today. So, gentlemen, why don't you tell me why the two of conspired to destroy the school cafeteria!?"

"Dash started it," Danny attempted to defend, "he threw-"

"Four touchdown passes in the last game and therefore exempt from punishment." The duo of girls couldn't believe he actually said that. Talk about favoritism. "You two, however, are not. I'll map out your punishment when I get back. Mr. Baxter, watch the door." He and Dash, who'd been leaning against the wall by the door, walked."

"You two probably have the worst luck I've ever seen." The girls reappeared right in front of Tucker and Danny.

They both screamed in surprise. "Uh, um, who are you?" Danny feigned ignorance. He wasn't sure he was going to tell his family his secret, there was no way he'd tell someone he didn't even know the name of.

"Don't even try it. She probably knows more about you than you do." The ghost girl had no patience for this. "I know you don't know me or trust me, but I'm willing to help you save your human girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Danny wondered why she thought Sam was his girlfriend, why everyone thought that really.

She ignored him. "After that, I don't care about the ghost. You can deal with her on your own."

"Why do you care about Sam?" Tucker asked.

"I don't." She shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "But I do care about humans not getting hurt and your friend is human, so I'll help you."

"And her?" Danny gestured to Nyx. "Why's she involved?"

"That's not your business." As far as she was concerned, Danny didn't need to know anything about Nyx at the moment. "For now, just know she'll be the reason Mr. Lancer won't be focusing on you two for awhile. Your friend is in the storage room in the basement. I'll follow you in a minute." She and Nyx then phased out of the room so that Nyx could begin causing a distraction.

Danny transformed and phased Tucker and phased the two of them through the floor where Ghost Girl, as he'd taken to calling her until he could get her name, had told him Sam would be. True to her word, in the basement storage room there were boxes of meant everywhere and The Lunch Lady ghost with Sam in a pile of meat.

The Lunch Lady had asked Sam why she didn't want to eat meat and told how good it was for people to eat.

"We don't need meat," Sam stated. "That's fact." These words sent the ghost into a rage.

"Silence! You need discipline, manners, respect. You know where that comes from!? Meat! Chicken or fish?" Sam was beginning to feel as though the ghost's constantly changing mood from sweet to demonic and back was more unsettling than her just yelling all the time.

"I'll take care of the ghost. You just find a way to get Sam out of that pile of meat."

Tucker just held up a fork and knife. "Way ahead of you."

The two went around the corner. Danny flew at the ghost managing to surprise her and actually land a punch.

Tucker had taken is set of utensils and began eating the meat Sam was buried in. "I'll have you free in no time, Sam."

"You've got to be kidding me." Not only was she trapped in meat, she'd have to wait for Tucker to eat it to get her out. She was really starting to hate her day.

Ghost Girl had phased through he ceiling at about that time, very much questioning this boy's logic in her head. She simply swooped down and grabbed Sam by her arms to turn her intangible. Sam didn't even bother asking the ghost why she helped, she was happy enough being free to not care.

Danny's part of the plan wasn't going as well as Tucker's. He was literally being thrown around by The Lunch Lady. If it weren't for his ghost powers he'd have been slammed into a wall and impaled by a shish kebab by now.

Lunch Lady, obviously angered by his lack of being hurt, roared and summoned all the meat from the boxes surrounding them. Just like in the hall she transformed into a giant meat monster. She grabbed Danny in her enormous hand and threw at the opposite wall.

He phased through the wall, but that meant Sam and Tucker were all that was left for the ghost to take care of. She roared again.

"Run?" Tucker posed the idea.

"Run." The two teens took off while Ghost Girl took the liberty of landing a solid ecto-charged hit at the Lunch Lady's head. Six years of practice made it so that that hit was pretty effective at getting the Lunch Lady's attention and knocking her to the ground at the same time.

The Lunch Lady literally threw her fist in retaliation, but Ghost Girl easily avoided it only for it to block the door Sam and Tucker were trying to get to and escape out of.

Danny phased through the wall again just as the two ran in another direction to escape the pursuing meat monster. Ghost Girl distracted Lunch Lady while Danny flew after his friends and caught both of them in his arms before phasing all of them though the wall and outside the school.

Ghost Girl followed right behind them. Once they were safe she heard Sam say, "Gee, Danny. Fighting meat monsters, phasing through walls. You must be exhausted."

"What?" Danny exclaimed. "Of course not. What would...give you that idea?" He fell asleep flying and would have hit the ground if Ghost Girl hadn't managed to grab the three of them and lower them to the ground in a safer manor. Danny transformed to his human half as soon as he touched the ground.

Sam and Tucker looked at him then each other and finally at Ghost Girl.

"Not that I'm complaining," Sam started, "but why did you help us?"

Before Ghost Girl could respond Nyx ran up to them with a smirk. Her distraction had gone off without a hitch. Not only had Mr. Lancer forgotten about Tucker and Danny, he was now focused on who had defaced an entire hallway of lockers.

"And who are you two?" Tucker continued asking the things they'd been wondering for a while.

Ghost Girl sighed before kneeling to scoop up Danny in her arms and started carrying him home. "I'm Selene. This is Nyx." Nyx nodded to them when they looked at her. "She's the new student people at your school have been talking about all day."

"That doesn't tell us why you both helped." Sam didn't trust them, even though they'd helped the trio of friends.

"I helped you because I don't like seeing humans hurt by ghosts. It's bad enough humans to hurt each other in whatever way, but at least they don't overpower each other as much as a ghost could."

"That seems awfully humane for a ghost." Sam was still skeptical. It just seemed so off to her that a ghost would want to help humans.

Selene shrugged. "How's it so different than Danny here?" She personally saw no difference. All she saw was someone protecting those he cared about, she was essentially doing the same.

"Because Danny's also half-human." Sam stated. "You're not."

"Shouldn't matter what I am." She countered. "All that should matter is that I'm not gonna hurt you, I've even helped you." Sam went silent after that, mulling over Selene's words. "Why are you so quiet Tucker? I know you're not as vocal about things as Sam, but you're not usually this silent."

"I'm wondering why Nyx's name seems familiar, and why she's involved in any of this?"

"Why are you two involved in all this?" Selene responded simply. "Because Danny's your best friend and you're his. It's similar for Nyx and I. As for why her name's familiar, I'm sure Danny mentioned he has more than one sister."

Sam and Tucker gaped at her, then at Nyx. Nyx smirked at them and gave a sarcastic wave. She wasn't surprised they didn't recognize her, they'd never even met her before that day. She'd had her first lab accident just days before Danny had met them. Even if they had met her, it'd been six years since she was home for more than a few hours, people can change a lot in that time.

"That explains why you haven't said anything," Sam realized. "You lost your voice when you were eight, right?"

Nyx nodded.

"Hmm, wonder why Danny didn't tell us you were back," Tucker mussed.

"He didn't know," Selene said, "Nyx got home late last night and left the house before anyone else woke up. The only other person that knows she's home is Jazz."

"Why not?" Sam questioned. "Shouldn't your family be thrilled to have you home?"

"She's not close with them." Selene explained. "The only contact she's had with her family aside from Jazz is a quick hello every now and then."

"Must have been pretty hard," Sam remarked. "My parents aren't my favorite people in the world, but I couldn't imagine not talking to them for so long."

Nyx just shrugged.

"Well, she wasn't without company all those years. An old friend looked after her and took care of her. They sent her to school, helped her adjust to a new life, taught her useful skills. They'd even found someone to teach her sign language so she didn't always have to write things out for people. Of course, Jazz is the only other person that knows it."

"I know sign language." Sam claimed.

"You do?" Tucker questioned.

Sam nodded. "I wanted to know it in case someone I met couldn't hear or talk but knew sign. I also knew Nyx was mute and thought it was a possibility she would learn the language. I wanted to make it easier on her."

" _Even though you'd never met me?"_ Nyx inquired.

" _Of course, plus we can have conversations with Tucker and Danny having an idea what we're talking about."_ Sam signed just to prove she could.

" _I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful friendship."_

Sam laughed. _"As long as you don't like bright, happy colors and talking about boys all the time."_ Five minutes ago she didn't trust this girl, now she's having a secret conversation with her.

" _Only if you're okay with video games and causing trouble."_

"Okay," Tucker interrupted, "can you two please stop doing that? It makes me feel like I'm missing something."

The two girls would have continued if they hadn't reached Fenton Works at that moment.

Selene stopped walking at the bottom of the steps. "This is where I'll have to leave you three on your own." She told them. "Jack and Maddie Fenton may be the two most incompetent ghost hunters in the world, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna spend more time near them than absolutely necessary." She let Tucker, Sam, and Nyx take Danny, Nyx supporting most of his weight. She was surprisingly strong for a girl their age. Once Selene was sure they had him, she took off into the sky.

The three of them went through the door, Danny and Nyx's parents not too far inside. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. What a school day. Poor Danny nodded off. We figured we'd just carry him all the way home and tuck him into without any parental interaction whatsoever." Tucker exclaimed as they carried Danny inside and started heading upstairs.

"Don't get up. We know where to go," Sam assured them.

The four teens disappeared up the stairs without Jack or Maddie saying a word to stop them.

"Was that Nyx that was with them?" Jack questioned after they were gone.

"That couldn't have been Nyx, Jack. She's not supposed to get out of the hospital until yesterday, remember." Maddie told him. She gasped when she realized what she said. "Oh my god, we forgot to pick her up yesterday."

* * *

The three friends put Danny on his bed. Tucker and Sam then sat down in waiting for Danny to to wake up. Nyx, however, turned to go back out the door.

"Where are you going?" Sam's voice stopped her.

" _I don't think it would be a good idea for me to be here when he wakes up. It's been six years since the two of us talked and just because I'm his sister doesn't mean he'll like me knowing what I do. I'm gonna give him some time to accept that I know his biggest secret."_ Nyx told.

"But he doesn't know you're his sister," Sam reminded her. "He'll be even more worried about some stranger he doesn't know being aware of his ghost-half."

" _Then explain who I am to him. I can't talk, he doesn't know sign language, I doubt he'll be willing to read the explanation written out, and me being here when he wakes up will just freak him out."_ Nyx stopped for a moment and sighed. _"Tell him who I am when he wakes up and that I'll be in my room to explain everything to him when he's ready. I'll take care of the long complicated parts, just get him to come see me."_

"Alright," Sam relented.

" _Thank you."_ With that, Nyx left the room and closed the door behind her.

She turned down the hall and at the very end stood a door that had been sparsely used since she left all those years ago. Inside the walls were gray while the ceiling was painted dark blue like the night sky. A large bed with dark blue sheets was set against one, a nightstand on each side. A desk with her computer stood against the wall underneath one of the two windows in her room, a bookshelf on the left side packed with books. On the other side of her desk an art easel with a partially finished painting stood, several more leaned against the wall along with dozens of drawing and sketches Nyx hadn't seen in years. Another set of shelves were hung on the wall in the corner, crammed to the max with various art supplies. Anything from charcoal to paint brushes could be found on those shelves or in the set of draws below.

She'd missed her room. It wasn't always the cleanest of rooms, but it had always been cleaner than Danny's and no matter how messy it appeared, she could always find whatever she was looking for in no time.

She went over to her unfinished painting, examining it to see if she could remember what the image was going to be. A lot of it appeared blurry, as if she'd painted the base but never got into adding the details. Dark brown and purple were the main colors that took up the background. A large red-brown blob occupied much of the right side with a two smaller blobs at the bottom of it. One was mostly black while the other was yellow and green with a small quantity of red. Towards the left were two more small figures. One of them was black and white and if Nyx turned her head just the right way she could swear it looked like the figure was upside down. The last figure was made up of white, purple, black and a bit of blue.

After staring at the painting for several minutes Nyx finally realized what it was. The only problem was that it shouldn't have been possible. She quickly went to the back of the canvas and looked at the writing in the bottom corner. On every painting and drawing she did she would put the date she started (and finished if it took multiple days) so that she always knew when she had done each piece. The date on this painting was three months ago, but the event depicted in it had only happened today.

Nyx started looking at each painting and drawing, analyzing each scene and every detail then checking the day she'd made them on. Some scenes had happened, others didn't. She saw Selene carrying Danny home with herself, Sam, and Tucker next to her, Jazz driving her home from the hospital, Danny transforming into his ghost half in Mr. Lancer's office, and her spray-painting the lockers in the school hallway to distract Mr. Lancer.

Some scenes, however, never happened. Nyx being grabbed by a giant meat monster, Danny falling with Sam and Tucker to the ground, and Mr. Lancer walking back into his office only to find Tucker and Danny gone (Okay, she wasn't sure if that one really never happened).

Whether the scene depicted in each drawing happened or not, all of them were dated at least six months ago.

Nyx had gotten so lost in her findings she didn't hear Sam and Tucker yelling at each other or storming out of the house. She didn't notice the door had opened and that someone had walked in until she heard the person yell.

"What are you doing in my house!?"

Nyx jumped and turned around. It was Danny. But why was he confused as to who she was. Sam was supposed to tell him she'd be here.

"Why are you going through my sister's artwork?" Danny left her no time to respond as he continued to interrogate her. "Who are you anyway?"

She held up her hands to try to get him to stop asking questions , but he payed her no mind. "You were at the school with Ghost Girl." He recalled.

 _'"Ghost Girl?" Did Sam not tell him anything?' She thought to herself._ She held up one finger as a signal to wait a moment then rushed to the desk to find some paper and something to write on. Once she did she quickly scribbled out what was most important at the moment so that Danny would quit thinking she was some creeper going through his sister's stuff after breaking in or something.

She handed it to him and waited as he read it. He surprisingly did so without question, though he did look at her in confusion for a moment. It wasn't long just a couple sentences, but Danny had to read it over multiple times to be sure he was reading it correctly.

Before Nyx could even comprehend what was happening Danny had swooped her up into his arms in a rib crushing hug. _'When did Danny get so strong?'_

After Danny had stopped crushing Nyx's internal organs, the two had settled into talking about what they'd each done over the last few years. Well, Danny talked and Nyx would write things down for him to read or he'd ask questions Nyx could answer with nods or head shakes. The two fell asleep on Nyx's bed after hours of catching up.

* * *

Danny and Nyx walked to school together the next morning while he explained what happened between Sam and Tucker the night before. The two blamed each other for what happened with the Lunch Lady.

Danny had hoped the two would be over it in the morning, but when he saw what was happening at school he knew he couldn't be farther from the truth. Two protests had been organized. One advocating vegetables being led by Sam and the other demanding meat by Tucker.

Nyx left the scene as soon as she saw it. She refused to be involved in a dispute between two friends, even if it meant Danny was stuck in it alone. Instead, she went inside the school to where she'd caused trouble the day before. In some random hallway she'd found, Nyx had taken the liberty of giving the normally blue-gray lockers a makeover. Each and every locker was now covered in spray-painted ravens, crows, spiders, ghosts, and anything else that had anything to do with what went bump in the night.

The students that saw her work of art had actually enjoyed it very much, Mr. Lancer on the other hand, did not. He'd been ready to stage a full-on man hunt for whoever had done it, luckily, Casper High didn't have the resources nor did it have the willing volunteers to do it. In the end, the student population massively approved of the change, Tucker and Danny were given a few hours before Lancer had found them missing, and Nyx had a good laugh at her success.

She was quite content to just silently laugh over her scheme yesterday until she heard a roar from outside. "It's lunch time!"

 _'Does she ever quit!?'_ she asked in her head. Nyx made sure she was alone before she did what she really couldn't yesterday. Violet rings surrounded her waist and spread over her entire body. Her black jeans and navy blue top were exchanged for black pants and a shirt with a purple-blue streak on them. Her hands became covered in white gloves along with her boots. Raven black hair turned white and purple, and silver-gray eyes glowed violet. Nyx had become Selene.

She quickly made a duplicate of herself in human form and left it in the hallway. She'd make her way out and away from the scene to make it seem like she'd had nothing to do with it while the real her was making sure no one got hurt.

Selene flew out of the school down to where Sam and Tucker had just pulled apart to show Danny in his ghost form. He flew up to face the meat monster as Selene went down to Sam and Tucker. The normal humans had the good sense to run away from the ghost as soon as it formed so Selene didn't really have to do anything.

Selene didn't like to fight other ghosts not because she couldn't but because she preferred not to make them her enemies. She stayed out of fights as much as possible and only got involved if she had to. This was one of the times her help wasn't necessary so she watched as Danny got thrown around a bit but in the end had managed to capture The Lunch Lady in the Fenton thermos.

"Well," Selene started when he caught the ghost, "looks like you're not all that bad at this. You're not that great, but there's still hope for you."

"Cause you helped so much." He retorted.

"I told you yesterday I only care about making sure humans stayed safe. The humans ran when the ghost showed up, no one was in danger, and you had it under control. My help wasn't needed."

Danny had to admit she was right. Her points were sound. And even if they weren't she had no obligation to help him.

"Where's Nyx?" Danny asked her.

"I sent her home," Selene lied. "I wanted to be sure she was safe."

"Why do you care about her so much?" Danny questioned.

Before she had to come up with an answer she heard, "Ghost directly ahead." She immediately flew off even though she knew it wasn't her the device was tracking.

Danny hid the thermos behind his back, Sam and Tucker right next to him. "Oh, sorry, Dad. You just missed him." He fibbed.

"We got a runner!" Jack called and ran off with Maddie.

"Great," Jazz muttered, "back to square one." She walked away.

"So, you're not gonna tell them?" Tucker guessed.

"Nah," Danny replied, "I think I might have finally figured out what these powers are for. They make me-"

Danny felt a hand on his shoulder. Mr. Lancer finally found him. "In a world of trouble."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were left with the job of cleaning up the mess caused by Danny's fight with The Lunch Lady while Dash and Mr. Lancer made sure the trio continued to do their work. Unknown to all of them, a sixth figure was among them as well.

So when Dash started chuckling at Danny having to clean, the dumpster he was leaning against mysteriously turned intangible and spilled food over the boy to the point he couldn't get out on his own.

"Fenton!" He cried out. "A little help."

Danny looked up just in time to see Selene give him a salute with a smirk while floating above the school before she took off into the night. It was then Danny decided even if Selene was just around to cause a little payback to Dash he was okay with her being there. "Whatever you say, Dash. Whatever you say."


	2. Parental Bonding

**Thank you to all who commented, favorited, or followed it really means a lot to me.**

 **Since I didn't put it in the first chapter, I own nothing other than Nyx/Selene.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Nyx was sitting on a hill on the outskirts of town before school started. A sketchbook laid opened to a blank page on her lap, waiting to be drawn on.

The peace and quiet were welcome feelings for the teen and were enjoyed to their full extent. Living with four other people wasn't something she was used to and wasn't easy for her to adjust to. Over the six years she'd been gone she grown accustomed to living with only one other person and had long since learned to love the serenity that came with it.

Not being able to experience the peace she'd adapted to at home led her to finding it elsewhere. A hill overlooking the town had become her favorite place because of it, especially in the mornings.

After having breakfast at home with her family one time, Nyx had made the decision to never do it again. Her parents would say things to her and she'd either have use sign and let Jazz tell them what she couldn't or she'd have to write it down for them to read. Normally Nyx would be fine with this system, but when her parents asked why she didn't just say what she wanted to she'd had enough putting up with it and walked out.

She'd assumed Jazz had had to remind them, but Nyx didn't care. She could handle them not talking to her over the years and forgetting to pick her up at the hospital, but she couldn't deal with them forgetting why it had all happened in the first place: their prototype portal.

Before Nyx's parents had even started the portal in the lab they'd pulled out the prototype they'd made in college with an old friend to see what building a larger scale one would entail. Nyx had gone down to the lab where they were working to ask if she could spend the night at a friend's house when her parents switched the small invention on. The portal sent out a blast that had hit her throat and chest. When they'd found the young girl couldn't talk or make any kind of sound she'd been taken to a doctor who told them she'd likely never regain her voice. The energy and ecto-plasm contained in the blast had almost completely destroyed her vocal chords.

It wasn't long before Nyx discovered her ghost powers. At the same time a family friend offered to help Nyx adjust to not having a voice but said it'd be hard to do unless she moved in with them. Nyx had agreed to do so and her parents were willing to let their friend help their daughter in any way they could. Nyx was sent states away and had hardly been back since then.

Nyx was willing to tolerate almost anything in regards to her inability to speak in human form, but her parents forgetting they were the reason it happened wasn't something she could endure.

Nyx, having gotten lost in her trip down memory lane, didn't even realize she'd started to draw something and it wasn't until the drawing was done that her attention was brought to it. A dragon wearing an amulet was holding a girl in its clawed hand while facing a floating figure. It wasn't uncommon for Nyx to draw such images without thought, she just wished she knew why.

The teen girl just closed her sketchbook and put it in her bag. It was time for her to head to school and she preferred to not having to resort to using her powers to make it there on time.

* * *

A few hours later lunch had started at Casper High School, Danny and Sam were eating at a table outside, Tucker had been rejected by every girl he'd asked to the dance, and Nyx was tired of having to deal with the entire male population of the student body.

The school dance was in a few days and Nyx had been asked by almost every guy she'd come in contact with. She would have thought it was nice to be liked by so many guys if she didn't know their real reasons. Ever since her first day at Casper High Nyx was a loner, she always had been, but that didn't mean she didn't know what was happening around her.

Guys throughout the school made bets on who could get one of the prettiest girls in school to go out with them. The news that Nyx couldn't talk was common knowledge and made many think she was the easier target because of it. She was always quick to prove them wrong, especially those that saw her only as a prize to be won.

To escape the seemingly never ending line of boys asking her out and find a semblance of peace Nyx elected to eat her lunch by a tree outside. Of course, since it was a school the tranquility couldn't last.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat at a picnic table not too far from where Nyx sat. So when Nyx glanced up and saw her brother and his best friend staring at something as if in a daze she was confused. Then she saw why.

Paulina Sanchez, a Latina with long dark brown hair, blue eyes, and flawless skin had walked into their view. Her looks as well as her well fitting pick t-shirt, blue capris, and white flats easily earned her the title of prettiest girl in school (one of them at least). She was one of the populars and almost everyone in Casper High either wanted to date her or be her.

Nyx, however, was not one of those people. She hated Paulina with a passion and had even taken to thinking of her as Ms. Shallow Queen Bee because of how self-centered and _shallow_ the girl was.

Paulina walked right over to where Nyx sat with her sketchbook and began unpacking her lunch. "Hey, Nyx. You'll never guess what happened earlier." And so it began. Nyx may have hated Ms. Shallow Queen Bee, but said popular was completely oblivious to the fact.

As soon as Paulina saw Nyx and knew the girl couldn't talk she'd started forcing Nyx to spend time with her. Paulina's logic: if everyone was going to stare at and talk about Nyx Paulina would be with her to ensure she'd still be the most talked about girl in school. The fact Nyx couldn't talk meant she couldn't tell Paulina to go away and that was enough to allow the popular girl to believe they were friends.

Talk about irony.

Ms. Shallow Queen Bee babbled on about whatever while Nyx simply continued to draw. It wasn't until her twin fell to the ground next to Paulina that Nyx started to pay attention.

"Please don't say you've suddenly fallen for me. That line is so last semester." Those two sentences alone are enough reason for Nyx to not like the girl. What if the guy had just tripped? Then you sound like a bitch.

"Yeah, uh, I mean no," he stumbled over his words as he stood. "I mean, I'm Danny." It would have been an okay start to talking to her if his pants didn't fall at that moment.

Everyone in sight started laughing, Paulina included. "A gentleman usually tips his hat, but I'll give you points for originality."

If Sam hadn't already stepped in to comfort Danny, Nyx probably would have hit the popular girl. "Coo-dos, Danny. You just set an all time speed record for drowning in the shallow end of the gene pool." Sam's cool tone and cold words would have made anyone pause for a moment but Paulina took a few seconds longer than most would.

"Oh no, you did not just call me shallow did you?" The fact that she had to ask just showed how dim Paulina could be, especially compared to Sam.

"If you mean do I think I could stand in a puddle of you and not get my feet wet, then yeah" She didn't care how popular Paulina was, no one laughed at her friend and got away with it.

"Shallow? I am not shallow." Sam dragged Danny away and Nyx took the opportunity to slip away from Paulina as well, but not before hearing, "On the other hand, I'm not so deep that I couldn't lure a boy away from a goth geek. And I will."

 _'This should be interesting.'_

* * *

The next day, Nyx was trying to find Sam before school started for the day. She knew Danny wouldn't believe her if she told him Paulina was using him, but Sam would...she hoped.

Even with multiple invisible duplicates searching Nyx was unable to find the goth girl. She'd just concluded Sam wasn't at the school yet when one of her duplicates came across Ms. Shallow Queen Bee and Danny who was rather abruptly shoved into his locker.

"Meet me," Dash leaned against the locker while facing Paulina, a football in one hand. "Who doesn't? Dash Baxter." Nyx saw Danny invisibly phase out of the locker a few away from Dash. "All star quarterback and school hero." He put his hands on Dash's back, but whatever he planned to do was prohibited by his being pulled into Dash's body. "I'm also-" Dash stopped talking and dropped the football.

"In Dash's body?" Dash's eyes had turned green and the voice he spoke with was Danny's signifying Dash no longer had control of his own body.

"Excuse me?" Paulina noticed none of what happened, but Nyx did.

"Right, of course." As Danny looked down at Paulina through Dash's eyes an idea formed. "I'm also president of the Casper High Geek Club and I have every toenail I've ever clipped. What to see them?"

"No."

"Oh, then you should get to know Danny Fenton. He doesn't scrub his mom's feet every night like I do." Danny had knelt down and grabbed Paulina's foot as he spoke.

"Eew! Get lost loser!" She backed away.

Danny phased out of Dash and back into the locker he'd been shoved into. Dash stood up with a dazed look on his face. He held his head. "Why do I suddenly have the urge to scrub my mom's feet?" He walked away without even glancing at Paulina again.

Paulina watched him walk off with a sour look before opening the locker Danny was in.

Rather than stepping out like you'd expect he lost his balance and fell to the floor, an amulet falling from his backpack as well.

 _'That looks familiar.'_ Nyx thought looking at the necklace.

The popular girl smiled as she knelt next to him. "We have to stop meeting like this." She noticed the dropped jewelry. "Oh my gosh. What's that?" She picked it up.

"That? Oh! Uh, it's a...uh... You like it?" He smiled hopefully.

"It's beautiful!" She exclaimed as she stood.

"Hey, that's great!" He looked unsure at first but must have decided to ignore it for the time being. "Because I, uh, got it for you." He stood as well.

"Really?!"

"Yeah. I-I-in case I got the nerve to ask you to the dance and you said yes, I thought I'd want to give you something and that's what it would have been. It's for you." His pants turned invisible like before, but he manages to grab them before they fell and made him look like a fool... again. "Whether you go with me or not."

She starts putting the amulet around her neck. "Well, you are kind of cute, and you have great taste in underwear. I'd love to go with you." She walked away from Danny, but just before she walked beyond Nyx's sight her eyes turned red for a moment then back to normal.

Nyx's eyes widened as she remembered where she'd seen that amulet.

"What am I doing? That thing doesn't belong to me. It could be my mom's, or one of my sister's." He frowned thinking of who's it could be.

"Bye, Danny. See you!" Paulina called from the end of the hall.

"Or I could worry about that later. Because she said yes! Woohoo!" He raised his fist in triumph until his pants fell again. Nyx would have laughed if she weren't worried about what might happen because of Paulina.

And if Mr. Lancer didn't show up behind Danny. "Pantless again, Mr. Fenton? Third time this week I've caught you- how do you kids say it?" He pulled out a book called ' _How To Sound Hip For the Unhip.'_ and started reading from it. _"_ Dropping trou."

 _'Doesn't he know he can't learn to be cool from a book? No one says that!'_

"I think it's time I saw your father for a parent-teacher conference." He gave Danny a paper with the request.

"Oh, man. My dad?"

"Until then, here." Lancer held a belt out to Danny."It'll help you keep your pants up and..." He consulted his book again, _"_ out of trouble with the man."

 _'Whoever wrote that book is even less cool than Lancer.'_

Lancer walked away leaving Danny staring at the paper.

"So you can't fight that well, you're incapable of staying out of trouble, and you suck at talking to pretty girls." The duplicate (in Selene form) became visible in front of Danny after making sure the hallway was empty. "Is there anything you're good at?"

Danny just about jumped out of his skin. "Selene?" Confusion and annoyance flared. "What are you doing here? And why didn't my ghost sense go off?" When he really thought about it, his ghost sense never went off because of her. He didn't like that she had that advantage over him, even if they weren't enemies.

She ignored his questions. "She's not interested in you." Nyx hadn't been able to find Sam all morning to warn her of Paulina's games, so she figured she could try telling Danny. "She's just using you."

"Yeah? And what do you know about her?"

Selene scoffed. "A lot more than you do apparently."

Danny just rolled his eyes. "Do you ever give straight answers? Or is it always sarcastic remarks?" He'd only talked to her a few times, but whenever he asked her a question it was never a simple response.

"Look, I've seen her type before. All they ever do is use people to get what they want and talk about their nails and hair."

"You sound like Sam." One person giving him lectures about people was enough, he didn't need two.

"Except Sam talks from a biased perspective."

"And you don't?" He retorted.

"No." She was getting annoyed fast and She'd learned quickly that that wasn't the way to get through to him. She took a breath and continued. "I've been a lot of places and seen a lot of people, Danny. I've been in some of those perspectives and I know what kind of person Paulina is."

"I doubt that."

Selene threw he hands up in disbelief. "Fine! Don't believe me. I've got better things to do than convince an idiot boy of something he refuses to see." She started to walk away but stopped half way down the hall. "By the way, you shouldn't have given that amulet to Paulina. When you're ready to stop being an idiot ask Nyx about it."

"Why shouldn't I have given it to her?" He questioned as she continued walking. "And why would I ask Nyx about it?"

She just disappeared without saying another word, along with the other duplicates throughout the school. She wasn't even going to tell him about the amulet, he'd either figure it out eventually or ask her later. She'd admit it was rather petty not telling him right away, but he should have thought about where a random amulet came from before giving it to a girl he was crushing on. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

Nyx didn't try to warn Danny about Paulina again, but she did tell Sam who actually believed her with little argument or doubt. Throughout the rest of the school day Nyx kept to herself like usual and avoided Paulina as much as possible.

* * *

The only good the populars have done for her is reunited her and Valerie. The two were actually best friends when they were little, but they'd had little contact since Nyx left. It was Valerie's house Nyx was going to ask to stay at the day she got her powers.

The two were quick to start mending their old friendship, though it wouldn't be the same as it once was. Valerie was a popular and Nyx preferred to be alone much of the time. Like most people, Valerie didn't know sign language and although she wasn't quite the same as most of the populars she was still pretty self-centered. Nyx's ghost half also prevented her from being willing to instantly trust her old friend completely.

Though the two girls didn't have the friendship they used to, they were willing to hang out together.

They both agreed to meet at the mall about an hour after school ended. They'd already walked around a bit and been in most of the stores. The two had decided to get some food before they left and were sitting in the food court.

While they'd been walking around Valerie had told Nyx about what her life was like during Nyx's time away. Her father had become very successful at a place called Axion Labs and made very good money. The wealth her dad earned led to Valerie becoming very popular among their peers and joining the A-Listers. Though that didn't mean Valerie wasn't capable of taking care of herself.

At some point Valerie decided it was time to know more about Nyx after she left and rather than asking the mute girl simple yes or no questions she'd elected to make a game out of how much she could guess correctly. "You left because you resented your parents for making you mute and you wanted to get away."

Nyx thought for a moment on how true it felt. She lifted her shoulders a bit and raised her hand to show her holding her thumb and pointer finger with a small space between them.

"A little at first but not so much now." She amended.

Nyx nodded.

"Okay... you went to a special school that taught you sign language and how to manage without your voice."

She shook her head in response.

"Never?"

Nyx shook her head again.

"Then you had a private tutor."

Thumbs up in reply.

Valerie contemplated for a moment. "You miss being able to talk."

Nyx didn't even need to pause before she shook her head once more.

Shock crossed the other girl's features. "Really? Why not?"

Nyx grabbed a napkin and used a pen to write, _"Easier to know who true friends are."_ She slipped it over to Valerie.

She thought for a bit about how that could be true; Nyx let her take her time. "Because they take the time to find ways around your muteness, right?"

Nyx smiled and nodded. _"In a lot of ways I'm glad I can't talk. There are very few times I wish I could."_ She wrote out and gave to her friend.

"Like when?" She questioned.

" _Like when I want Paulina to go away and I can't yell at her to."_

Valerie burst out laughing at that. "I'm not really her biggest fan either." She told her.

Nyx grinned, happy she wasn't the only person in the school that didn't idolize Ms. Shallow Queen Bee.

* * *

Across the food court Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat eating. "So, your dad is going to chaperon the dance?" Sam questioned.

"Yes, but he doesn't know he's going to chaperon because he doesn't remember that _I_ made him say yes!" Danny exclaimed. He was starting to wonder if maybe Selene was right to think he wasn't good at anything. Whenever he tried to do something to get out of trouble he just dug himself a bigger hole.

"Let me get this straight. You can just walk into people and take over their bodies from the inside?" Tucker asked while looking at a girl from school reading a book.

"Yeah, pretty much." He didn't sound very thrilled at his ability.

Tucker glanced at the girl again. "Hey, Danny. If you could control a girl for just about two minutes..." He began suggesting.

Danny noticed the girl Tucker had been glancing at. "Forget it. You can get your own date for the dance like I did." _'With a necklace that wasn't yours to give.'_ A little voice that sounded a bit too much like Selene finished in his head.

"Does he have to take off his pants _and_ act like a dweeb? Or will either one do?" Sam inquired.

* * *

The Abyss store was one of Paulina's favorite stores, mostly because it always had the new clothes that would be deemed trending. So when there was a sign saying, ' _Fleecy Tees Sale!_ ' she knew she had to go in.

She spotted a table with the yellow tees stacked in the back of the store and happily rushed over to look through it. "I've just got to have one of these! They're so unique!" She looked around at all the other customers in the store, all of them wearing a fleecy tee. Then she saw a store sales girl. She waved her over. "Miss?"

The sales girl hopped over with an overly chipper smile on her face.

Paulina held up a fleecy tee. "Do you have this in a size small?"

The girl's voice was just as chipper as her smile. "Ooh, sorry. We just sold our last small of this corduroy button-down fleecy tee to someone else."

"Will you be getting any more soon?" Paulina questioned fearfully. She needed to have one of these tees.

"The Abyss corduroy button-down fleecy tee has been discontinued. If you haven't already got one, you are doomed to languish as a toxic social outcast for a period of no less than five and no more than sixteen weeks." She giggled. "Sorry."

"SIXTEEN WEEKS?!" Paulina thundered in outrage. She ripped the tee she was holding as the amulet Danny gave her began to glow. Her skin turned blue and her eyes red. She suddenly turned into the dragon form of Princess Dorathea, the ghost the amulet truly belongs to.

"Want fleecy tee!" She bellowed and blew green fire at the table of tees.

All the customers and the sales girl run out of the store, screaming in fear.

* * *

"Honestly, guys, I'm glad I'm not going to the stupid dance. Saves me the embarrassment of wearing the lame dress my parents bought me." Sam laughed nervously, hiding the fact she really wanted to go.

"So no one's asked you, huh?" Tucker claimed.

"Maybe if I was as pretty as Paulina." She suggested.

"Why are you so down on her? Selene too? So she's pretty. It's not a crime."

"Looks are deceiving, Danny." Sam stated. "When did you talk to Selene?" She questioned.

People began to scream and run away from something behind the trio of friends. A blue wisp escaped Danny's mouth.

"Ghost time." He held up some French Fries. "Can I have your fries?"

* * *

The smile on Nyx's face fell as soon as she felt the presence of the ghost dragon close by. She stood up and pulled Valerie with her as she distanced herself from the ghostly entity.

"Nyx?" Valerie questioned. "What's wrong?"

She pointed towards where the energy of the amulet came from. People were running in fear and it became clear to Valerie why.

A blue dragon with green spikes stood on its back legs faced another smaller form floating in the air, Danny Phantom.

Suddenly Valerie was the one pulling them away from the table they'd previously occupied.

Nyx made a duplicate in Selene form and sent it to made sure no one was hurt.

The Selene duplicate payed no mind to Danny or his banter with Dragon Paulina. Like the incident with The Lunch Lad, people had the good sense to run away from the ghost causing chaos and destruction. The only time she had to do anything was when Danny punched Paulina from below and sent her massive dragon form towards an unaware girl with an Abyss bag. Selene flew at the girl and flew her out of the way just as Paulina crashed to the ground.

Dora's amulet fell from Paulina's neck, causing her to shrink back to human form. Paulina had already managed to stand and retrieve 'her' amulet by the time Selene got back to her.

The Selene duplicate cursed and looked to where Danny went to. She flew over as Danny was saying, "Fine. But that's the second time I've fought that dragon. We need to investigate."

"I'll add 'fighting dragons' to the list of things you can't do well." Selene stated.

"I didn't see you doing anything to stop it." Danny countered.

"That's because I don't fix other people's screw-ups. Ask Nyx about that dragon and you'll know everything you need to know."

"Why do _you_ not just tell me?" Danny questioned.

The Selene duplicate just disappeared without answering, leaving them all wondering about her.

"Okay then." Danny turned back to Sam and Tucker. "How are you guys?"

"Great...if you don't count me still being dateless for the dance." He started tapping at his PDA, going over the names of all the girls in school. "Sasha, no. Denise, no. I've hit every girl in school except..." Valerie and Nyx walked up to them. "Valerie and Nyx."

"Yeah, hi. Sucker, is it?" She asked uninterested. This was one of those moments you could see she was an A-Lister.

"Tucker. Or Tuck. Or Tuckerino." He tried to sound cool. It didn't work.

"Which ends with "no." Which, by the way, is my answer, unless something happens in the next five minutes that makes me dateless." She stated.

He looked to Nyx. "What about you Nyx?"

"You're not going to the dance with my sister." Danny interrupted.

Nyx and Valerie looked at each other, both confused at Danny's words. Even Sam, who knew Danny better than anyone, was wondering why he'd said that.

"Why not?" Tucker demanded.

"Because I won't allow it."

"'Won't allow it'? Since when do you care what Nyx does?" Sam challenged.

"Since I'm her brother and I'm supposed to protect her." He explained.

This confused Nyx more. _'He spent six years hardly talking to me and he thinks he can play the_ I-need-to-protect-my-sister _card as if nothing happened?'_ Nyx looked at Valerie again.

Valerie pointed towards the door and raised her eyebrow.

Nyx caught her silent question and nodded. The two slipped away while the trio was caught up in whether or not Tucker could go to the dance with Nyx. It took a solid five minutes for the three to notice Nyx and Valerie had disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Danny questioned.

* * *

"I don't understand why I have to wear this stupid thing." Jack grumbled as Maddie fixed his tie.

"Because it's Danny's and Nyx's first dance, Jack. If we're gonna chaperon this thing, we have to make sure we don't embarrass them." Maddie told him.

" _Actually,"_ Nyx signed to Jazz, _"I'm not going. Even if I was, it wouldn't be my first dance."_ Her previous school was very prestigious, so much so that ballroom dancing was a class and the school had dances often to put the skills to use. Nyx had gone to quite a few in her time away.

"Nyx isn't going, actually," Jazz corrected their mother from her spot leaning against the table. "And it wouldn't be her first dance if she was."

"How would we embarrass them?" Jack continued as if Jazz hadn't said anything.

"I think it's great when you guys do anything that doesn't have something to do with your sick obsession with ghosts." Jazz spoke in an annoyed tone, from them ignoring her and her immense dislike of her parent's hobby.

"Funny. I don't even remember volunteering to chaperon the dance. It's all a vague blur." Jack said with a confused look.

Danny walked up behind the table, drinking a glass of water.

"By the way, Danny, just so you know, I'm on to your little secret." Jazz informed.

Danny spit out his water. "What?! Wh-what secret?"

"The clumsiness, the nervousness. I can't believe I didn't figure it out before. Nyx actually had to tell me." Jazz started.

He glared at his twin who just smirked at him.

"You have a girlfriend."

Ha panicked and exclaimed, "Nyx lied, I'm not a ghost! _"_ Then he realized what Jazz actually said. "I-I mean...she's not my girlfriend. She's just going to the dance with me."

Nyx was laughing at Danny. He really needed to learn not to freak out whenever someone says they know his secret. One day someone's gonna think about what he says in response and put the pieces together.

"That's great! I can meet her and talk to her about ghosts!" The only thing Jack Fenton was ever enthusiastic about other than fudge.

"You better let her know your family's insane now, Danny. If you marry her and she finds out later, that's entrapment." Jazz told him.

He sighed and started walking out. "I better go get ready." He was about to walk out the door when he remembered what Selene told him. "Hey, Nyx?" She looked at him with a smile still on her face. "Would mind helping me with something real quick?"

She nodded and followed him to his room.

"I know we haven't... talked much since you got back." He sounded very hesitant to say 'talk' in conversation with her, as if she'd be offended by the word. "But I need your help."

She gestured with her hand. 'Go on.'

He sighed. He wasn't sure why he'd decided to bring his sister into this. Sure, she knew his secret and she was friends with Selene, but that didn't mean she should be involved. He wanted to make up for all those years he didn't talk to her, that meant protecting her as much as possible. "That dragon at the mall... what do you know about it?"

She walked right out of his room without giving any indication as to what she was doing.

At first, Danny thought she wasn't going to help him and was going to do whatever it is she does in her spare time. He was proven wrong when she walked back in a minute later with her laptop in her hands.

She walked over to his bed and sat cross-leg on it as if it were her own. She motioned Danny to sit next to her. He did and he watched as Nyx opened her computer and began clicking and typing away on it as she brought up multiple documents and files on Princess Dorathea, her dragon form, and her amulet.

"Apparently you know a lot," he stated in shock. He looked back at her. "How do you have so much information on one ghost?"

She smiled and opened a new document to type on. _"I've known Selene for a while now, Danny. We've come across quite a few ghosts over the years. This isn't a new thing for me."_

"Right, but I don't want you involved in this."

" _And I don't plan to be, but I don't have to be involved to give you information."_

He contemplated something for a moment and eventually asked, "So, do you know why Selene kept telling me to ask you for help?"

" _I know your secret, Danny, and there's no way to change that. She wanted you to know you can trust me with it."_ Nyx paused for a moment to let him process what she'd told him. _"I don't expect you to come to me for help with every ghost you encounter, but I want you to know that you can ask me for help if you need or want to."_

He smiled at his twin. "Thanks, Nyx."

She smiled back. _"Now get changed. You have a dance to get to. I'll send you a copy of the files."_

He laughed. "Alright."

Nyx emailed Danny the files and left his room.

Closing the door to her room, Nyx felt guilt wash over her. He was willing to trust her with his secret, not that he really chose to, but she wasn't willing to share hers. It wasn't fair to Danny, but she knew Danny would tell Sam and Tucker. Nyx knew they wouldn't tell anyone else, but she'd spent so long with only one other person being aware of her ghost half, not even other ghosts knew.

She shook her head. Despite the guilt, she had a feeling it was better no one else knew of her ghost half. Not because they would hurt her in any way, but because it felt as though it was insurance for something, something important that she didn't know yet .

* * *

Nyx may not have been going to the dance that night, but Selene was.

Nyx let the familiar dark purple rings surround her waist and spread over her form. Her navy blue tank top became black, long sleeved, and had a large purple-blue streak. Her black jeans and chain changed to black pants with a streak like her shirt tucked into white boots that matched her gloves. Silver-gray eyes turned violet and raven hair transformed to white fading to purple. Her crystal necklace, charm bracelet, and many earrings disappeared.

Danny had left for the dance with their parents some time ago, so Selene phased out of her room and flew towards the school. He'd asked Nyx for help and she'd help even if he didn't know it was her.

* * *

In the school gym, Danny had just gotten some punch for Paulina and himself. He was trying to think of a way to get her to give him the amulet and avoid fighting her in dragon form again. "Paulina, I was thinking... That amulet-"

She interrupted him before he could say much. "Isn't it fabulous? I haven't taken it off since you gave it to me."

"Yeah, well, about that. See, I shouldn't have given it to you in the first place because..." he glanced around the room and saw Sam and Tucker. "It belongs to Sam!" He told her the first excuse he could come up with. Bad choice.

Paulina growled angrily and used a green dragon tongue to drink her punch Danny had gotten her, then broke the glass it was in.

Danny handed her his glass and said, "Uh... But I want to make it up to you. I'll get you something else. Something...more special." Danny saw his dad looking confused at something Mr. Lancer had said to him and made an excuse to get away so he could fix it. "Like punch! I'm gonna get you some special punch." He rushed towards his parents and teacher, but before he could do anything the look of confusion vanished from his father's face.

"Right. I had a talk with him earlier and straightened everything out with him." His dad told Lancer.

"You did?" Lancer questioned.

"Of course." Jack assured the man. "His twin sister just got home not too long ago and he's been trying to balance school work with spending time with his sister and friends. It's just been a bit hard on him." His dad looked down at him. "Isn't that right, son?"

"Uh, yeah. I've been trying to catch up with Nyx. Six years takes a lot of time to go over." Danny said quickly. This made no sense to him. His dad shouldn't know anything about Mr. Lancer and he and Danny never talked earlier.

"You see?" Jack went on. "Just give him some time and you shouldn't have any more problems."

"Well, alright then." Mr. Lancer acknowledged. "If certain, I'll leave you and your wife to enjoy your night." Lancer departed from them, going back to trying to learn to be cool.

"You should go back to your date, Danny. Bad idea to leave her for too long." His father advised.

"Right." Danny agreed. Danny walked away wondering what just happened.

" _You shouldn't have to worry about your parents for the rest of the night."_ A voice spoke in his head, causing him to jump. _"Lancer won't bother them now. Focus on getting the amulet from Paulina or you'll end up having a dragon destroy the gymnasium. I'll do what I can to help."_

"Selene?" He asked out loud.

" _Yes."_ Danny was about to ask something, but Selene prevented it. _"Just get the amulet."_

Danny walked towards Sam and Tucker. "My dad is taken care of," he told them. "We just need to get the amulet." He gave each of them a walkie-talkie. "Try to find Paulina. Let me know when you do."

He rushed off to find a place to transform. As soon as he did, Sam called through the walkie-talkie, "Danny! I've got her."

"Stay on her. I'm on my way. And Sam, don't make her angry." He told her.

* * *

In the girl's bathroom, Paulina was checking her make-up in the mirror when Sam walked up behind her.

"Hey, Paulina. Nice dress." She commented.

Paulina turned to face her. "Yes, and it goes so nicely with _your_ amulet, don't you think?" She tried to spite Sam, not knowing it wouldn't affect her the way she wanted.

" _My_ amulet? That's not my-" She stops when she realizes that Danny must have told her that. "Right! Listen...my grandma gave me that amulet, and-" She planned to guilt Paulina into giving her the amulet, but it didn't go as planned.

"Forget it, sweetie. I'm not giving up this trinket _or_ your little boyfriend Danny." Paulina cut her off.

"My boyfriend?" Sam exclaimed. "Ha ha! And they say pretty girls can't be funny. Danny is _not_ my boyfriend." she stated.

"He's not?" Paulina questioned with a frown.

"He's my _best_ friend. Maybe that's why I was so hard on you. I didn't mean to call you shallow." She did mean it, but she needed to get that necklace, even if it meant she had to be nice to Paulina.

Paulina's frown only grew. "What a bummer! I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from you." She smiled slightly and put the amulet around Sam's neck. "Here, take your crummy amulet." She started walking out of the bathroom. "I'm going back inside to dump your dorky friend."

Sam started to shake with anger and the amulet stared to glow. Her skin turned scaly, and her eyes became red. "Shallow little witch!" Sam bellowed in a much deeper voice, and she turned into the blue dragon.

Paulina fainted at the sight and Sam grabbed her in her dragon hand. Sam destroyed the ceiling and flew out just as Danny walked in. He flew after them, kicking Sam in the back to make her crash to the ground.

"Take it easy, Paulina. You don't want to hurt Sam." He noticed Paulina in the dragon's grip. "Paulina?" He looked at the dragon's face. "Sam?"

"Shallow girl!" Sam roared.

"Yep, that's Sam." Sam breathed fire at him and he had to go intangible to avoid it. When he reappeared he told her, "Whoa! Sam! Two words: breath mints." Danny flew at her and pulled Paulina from Sam's grip.

Sam roared and hit them with her tail, sending the two flying towards the bleachers. Danny phased them both through them to avoid getting too badly hurt.

While Danny had been flying towards the bleachers, Selene flew in front of Sam to get her attention. "Hey, Sam!"

Sam looked at Selene and roared again. She blew green fire at the girl, but Selene easily dogged it. Sam then tried to grab her in her claws, but Selene avoided them as if they were nothing.

Danny phased through the bleachers.

"That all you got?" Selene taunted with a grin. "Come on, you can do better than that." She flew around till she was on the other side of Sam, making her turn to face her. "I'll even give you an easy shot."

Sam roared at Selene again.

The ghost teen just laughed as if she were told a joke. "So cute when you try to be scary."

It seemed as though Selene wasn't taking the fight seriously. It was like she was having fun, like she wasn't worried in the slightest. It confused Danny enough that he didn't even step in to help.

Sam blew fire at Selene again and this time the girl didn't move. When the flames stopped there was nothing but charred ground where Selene once stood.

Sam was suddenly sent to the ground as if hit.

Danny's eyes widened. 'What?'

"Missed!" Selene's voice called. She appeared by Sam's neck. "Don't feel bad, I've had years of practice." She ripped the amulet off Sam's neck. "I'll take this."

Sam shrunk from a giant dragon down to human form. "Wow." She held her head in pain as Selene helped her stand. "Did I have fun at the dance?"

Selene smirked. "I'd say you had a blast." She looked at Danny who had come to stand next to Sam. "Why don't you take her back inside, there's still some time enjoy the dance." She held up the amulet. "I'll take care of this." She took off and disappeared from sight.

Danny had wanted to ask her why she helped him, but he decided it would have to wait. Instead, him returned to human form and went back inside with Sam to enjoy the rest of the dance.

* * *

 **Feel free to comment any recommendations or ideas on how Nyx should be involved in other chapters. Also, when do you think Danny, Sam, and Tucker should find out Nyx and Selene are the same person, if ever? And should Nyx have a love interest or should she remain independent? Let me know!**


	3. One of a Kind

At nine o'clock at night warehouses by the docks should be silent excluding the rats that scurry around looking for food. For one, this wasn't the case.

A ghost yelled as he's invisibly thrown through the wall and into a pile of boxes.

Danny phased through the wall just seconds after, a determined look on his face and his hand a fist. They both turn visible as they face each other on opposite sides of the abandoned warehouse.

"Beware! I am the Box Ghost! I have power over all containers cardboard and square." The self-proclaimed Box Ghost gestures to the discarded boxes as he makes his statement.

Having fought ghosts for several hours, Danny's patience has grown thin. "Okay, can we get this over with? I've got a test to study for."

"Study? There will be no time to study-" The Box Ghost's hands started to glow with the green Danny had began associating with ghosts as the boxes surrounding him began to float, glowing the same color. "-when you find yourself crushed beneath the forgotten possessions of..." he had to stop to read the label on one of the boxes, destroying any fear or worry his words would had induced. "Elliot Kravitz of Arlington Heights, Illinois!" He sent the boxes soaring at Danny, the boxes and his eyes glowing green.

Danny just floated where he was with his arms crossed as he turned intangible to allow the boxes to go right through him. He sighed. "I don't have time for this!" He stopped for a moment when a thought occurred to him. _'I sound like Selene.'_ "Hey, Tucker, let's go!"

Sam and Tucker kicked down the door to the warehouse together. Tucker held a Fenton Thermos and Sam held a Biology textbook.

Tucker spun the thermos on one finger before tossing it to his other hand and uncapping it. "Good night, everybody!"

He activated it and Danny tossed the Box Ghost in front of it. The Box Ghost screamed as he was sucked into the container.

"Perimeter secure." Tucker capped the thermos.

"Perimeter secure?" Sam questioned. "What are you, a Navy Seal?"

Danny landed next to his two friends. "Seals: aquatic mammals that bark. They're canines, right?" His smile showed his confidence in his answer.

Sam checked the textbook. "Wrong." She snapped the book closed. "That's zero for twenty-one."

"I'm no teacher, but I'm guessing that's an "F."" Tucker commented as he spun the thermos on his finger again.

"Come on, you guys." He flew up between the two. "If you're gonna be superhero sidekicks, you're gonna have to be a little more focused." He pointed to Sam. "You're supposed to be helping me study for the test tomorrow." Then at Tucker. "And you're supposed to be helping me catch these ghosts so I have time to study!"

Tucker continued to spin the thermos on his finger. "What? They're all right here."

As soon as Tucker finished his statement, the thermos fell to the ground. The impact with the hard ground caused the thermos to release every ghost trapped inside, the Box Ghost being the last one out. "Ha ha! I am the Box Ghost! You cannot hold me within the confines of a cylindrical container." He phased through the wall like every other ghost had as soon as they'd been freed.

"That's weird." Tucker mentioned while checking his PDA. "According to my schedule,we should be done catching ghosts by now."

Danny glared at his friend.

"Why don't you ask Selene to help you?" Sam inquired. "Can't she do anything?"

Danny sighed. "I asked her the last time I saw her if she'd help me catch the ghosts around town, but she refused to even consider it."

"Why not?" Tucker asked. "She helped a bit with the Lunch Lady." He reminded them. "And when Sam was a dragon."

Sam glared at him for the second comment.

Ignoring Sam's glare Danny said, "She claims it's because capturing ghosts and returning them to the Ghost Zone is an easy way to make a lot of enemies in a small amount of time."

"And she wants as few enemies as possible." Sam finished. "Can't blame her really."

"Why not?" Danny and Tucker asked at the same time.

The goth rolled her eyes. "It's pretty obvious she plans to stick around for a while. It would be kinda hard to do that if she had ghosts constantly attacking her."

As the boys took their time to think about Sam's reasoning, a ghost in a room overlooking them watched them through a pair of binoculars.

"Half human, half ghost. One of a kind." The robotic ghost lowered his binoculars and turned to face his cage of trapped ghosts with a grin on his face. "He'll make a fine addition to my collection." He turned back to continue watching Danny and his friends.

The Box Ghost flew up to the cage, about to take it. "Touch the box and your pelt will adorn my fireplace." Skulker warned without looking at him.

Knowing better than to argue with a ghost like him the Box Ghost just yelled, "Beware!" at the ghosts in the cage and flew off.

Skulker just went on watching Danny as he interacted with his friends.

"I know you're a hunter and all, but I think this is more along the lines of stalking," a familiar voice sassed from behind.

"Selene." Skulker turned to see the blue skinned female beside him. "What are you doing here?"

Selene gave her usual smirk. "You didn't honestly think you could just come into my town and get away without me finding out why you're here did you?"

"Why I'm here is my business, I don't have to tell you anything." Skulker wasn't just going to disclose his plans Selene of all people. She'd just get in his way.

The smirk on Selene's face disappeared as she restated her question, "Why are are you here, Skulker?"

"My business is my business." The hunter growled. "Not yours."

Selene grabbed Skulker by the black shirt he wore and held him against the wall. "Don't make me remind you which of us is more powerful," she threatened, the hand holding him starting to glow violet. She may not want to make enemies, but that didn't mean she wouldn't use force against unwelcome ghosts.

"You don't need to know." Skulker was determined not to let her get in the way, and if that was to be the case she couldn't know what he planned. He didn't care how powerful she was, he refused to lose his prize to her intervention.

Selene slammed his robotic body into the wall, the energy in her hand rushing through his mechanical suit. He fell to the floor when she released her hold. "I'll let it go this time," she started as she knelt to his level, "but next time I won't be so willing to leave without an answer." She stood and disappeared through the ceiling.

She didn't capture random ghosts throughout the city, most of them were relatively harmless anyway. Ghosts like Skulker were the only ones she was apprehensive about because they usually had some goal in mind beside causing trouble. But even though she didn't like them around she left them alone so long as they didn't harm anyone and they didn't bother her.

Skulker had disturbed her before she even saw him. She knew he was after something, she could sense it from miles away. She didn't know what he planned, but she knew Skulker was up to something she wouldn't like.

* * *

Nyx wasn't conceded. She didn't spend hours staring at herself in the mirror, she actually tried to avoid it. But every now and then, she'd catch a glimpse of her reflection in a mirror and get halted by the image that faced her.

Fair skin and long black hair frame silver-gray eyes. A tall, slim frame was covered in a one-shoulder dark blue tank top and black skinny jeans, a chain hanging from her waist. Silver hoops and a bracelet with several small spikes hanging from it gleamed in her ears and on her wrist.

When Nyx looked at who she was, actually looked, she found it hard to believe how different she used to be, not just in appearance. Her black hair was always pulled back in a ponytail for starters, and she only had one earring, not five. She used to wear plain t-shirts and jeans like Danny, and she didn't wear a chain on her waist or a necklace and bracelet.

Nyx's personality had changed as well. The shy and unsure girl she'd been when she was little became confident, outgoing, and fun-loving but mature. She didn't talk much when she was little (talk about use it or lose it), but now she didn't need to.

And despite what's happened to her, she's happier.

Nyx smiled at her reflection, happy she became who she was. She grabbed her bag and made her way downstairs. She was already leaving later than usual and wanted to avoid getting caught up in family talk.

Luckily, she didn't have to go through the kitchen to leave the house. She did, however, need to get past Jazz.

"Nyx! They said yes!" Jazz called when she saw her younger sister. "Guess what!" Even if Nyx wanted to say anything Jazz didn't give her a chance. "Genius Magazine said yes to putting Mom on the cover!" Jazz shoved the magazine she was holding into Nyx's hands.

Looking down at the magazine made Nyx feel immediate annoyance. Genius Magazine was supposedly about women geniuses, by women geniuses, but Nyx thought otherwise. The writers thought anyone who was reclusive, moody, and messy was a genius rather than someone who had actually had scientific breakthroughs.

Nyx was about to express her thoughts to Jazz, but Jazz took the magazine and bounced into the kitchen to tell the rest of the family before she had the chance. She shook her head and left, it wasn't a big deal to her.

* * *

"I got a "D?!"" Danny held his now graded Biology test in his hands. "All this ghost hunting is taking away from my study time." He sat with Tucker at a table in the library, Sam on a computer behind them.

"So much for the Fentons being a family of geniuses." Tucker commented.

Looking exceptionally down, Danny stated, "I can't get a "D" in biology. My parents will kill me."

"Not if your sister did worse," Tucker tried to reassure his friend. "How'd she do on the test?"

A paper being smacked onto the table between the two was the first response he got. "She didn't." It was another test, this one with an 'A' circled at the top.

"Why do you have Nyx's test?" Tucker questioned, looking at Sam.

She shrugged. "I asked her if I could look at it since she added some information on what you're gonna do to raise your grade." Sam turned back to the computer and pulled up a link.

Danny walked over to Sam, looking at the web page she'd brought up. "A purple-back gorilla?"

"Yep. Extremely rare. Only two left, both male. After this, they're gone forever. Which is why you are going to prove he deserves to be set free." She smiled the whole time as she spoke of something she had such passion for.

Danny frowned. "I don't have time for extra credit...or your agendas." Between ghost hunting and normal school work, he had no time for more work.

"Actually, you do." Tucker interrupted with a cheerful smile, his PDA in his hand. "You just have to learn how to manage it better. I decided to become your time manager. It's the least I can do after Sam made me let all those ghosts out."

Danny and Sam frowned at him, Danny in doubt and Sam in annoyance. "I don't know." He sighed.

"It'll be my job to keep track of your schedule so you can do your schoolwork and catch all those ghosts that Sam let loose." Sam continued to glare at him, practically growling.

Danny crossed his arms and reminded him, "Remember what happened when I let you manage the thermos?"

Tucker was already way ahead of him, making a note on his PDA. "And I've already scheduled "Remember: not to let Tucker handle the thermos."" He showed them the reminder blinking on his device.

The ghost boy sighed. "I suppose we could have a trial period."

"See? I've also scheduled some zoo time so we can check out that gorilla. Let's go." The three friends rushed out of the library, the techno-geek in the lead.

* * *

A few hours after Danny, Sam, and Tucker talked in the library, Nyx invisibly sat cross-legged in Selene form while facing Sampson. She'd been there since school got out and she still didn't know why.

She sighed. "Do you know why I felt the need to come here and watch you scratch your butt for six hours?" Despite the fact Sampson was a gorilla, he was actually really smart. He knew exactly when Selene arrived despite her being invisible and was completely aware of her location the entire time.

The gorilla grunted and gave an almost indiscernible shrug of his shoulders.

Selene sighed again and rested her head on her hand. "Of course not." Repeatedly drawing the rare creature had gotten old days ago and she was incredibly tired of seeing the beast whenever she picked up a pencil and paper.

She could sense her twin and his friends in an observation tower looking down at Sampson; they'd arrived only minutes after she did. She didn't bother sending a clone to watch them or listen into their conversation, it wasn't worth it. They were there to learn something new about the gorilla, the only reason anyone would willing sit in a tower and watch the animal scratch its butt for six hours (besides Selene who already knew more about the creature than anyone).

"How the hell do you tolerate sitting in this cage all day?!" Selene exclaimed. "No wonder Sam wants you to be set free so bad." She sighed.

Sampson seemed to perk up slightly at her words.

"Yeah," she agreed, "I don't blame you for wanting to be free again. Maybe one day." She smiled a sad smile at the gorilla even though she knew he couldn't see her. "You deserve better than this, that's for sure."

Sampson made a noise of agreement, smart enough to know nothing deserved to be locked up like he was.

The two of them fell into a peaceful silence after that, simply enjoying each others company. As Selene sat there, it occurred to her just how strange this would look to someone else. A blue skinned ghost girl sitting in front of a four-hundred-pound purple-back gorilla and having a casual one-sided conversation inside of the gorilla's enclosure.

She'd have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all if she didn't feel Skulker's presence enter the zoo.

Sampson must have sensed it as well because he started running towards where growing and fighting noises were. However, he couldn't make it all the way there due to the barriers of his confinement. He saw Sam outside his habitat and started to make various noises of distress.

Sam stood at the bars of the habitat, looking at the gorilla with wonder. "What is it, you wondrous being?" She questioned.

The gorilla went towards her and pointed at the door to his habitat while continuing to make sounds of distress.

She looked at where he gestured but didn't quite understand what he wanted. "Is something wrong?"

Sampson rushed to his cage door and hung off it, never quitting his attempts to convey what was wrong.

"You want out?" The goth girl smiled and rushed to the control panel for the habitat and without a moment of hesitation pressed the button to open the door for the gorilla.

The endangered creature rushed from his cage, intent on attacking the ghost that had captured a tiger in a net.

Selene had long since left to find the Ghost Zone's self-proclaimed Greatest Hunter. Finding Skulker by the tiger exhibit was easy and the ghost girl made quick work of releasing the trapped animal before turning to the real reason she was there.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned the ghost as he looked through his binoculars.

He didn't even bother turning around to face her. "You again? Why do you even care?"

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "You know why." Selene's voice was hard and cold, she wanted answers.

"And it's none of your business," Skulker growled as he turned to face the girl. "Get out of my business before I make you."

Selene just smiled. "Try that and I'll have every reason to send you back to the Zone."

"The agreement stands." He stated. "You can't do anything to me."

The girl's smile turned into a smirk as she caught a glimpse of movement behind him. "I can't, but he can."

Skulker instantly grew confused. "What-?"

Sampson slammed into the robotic ghost and immediately began pounding him with his huge fists. Wires and pieces of metal flew from Skulker's suit as it was destroyed more and more by the gorilla.

The beating didn't last, however. Skulker managed to block one of Sampson's powerful hits with his arm and kicked the gorilla away. Skulker stood but Sampson wasn't done. The gorilla flew at Skulker again and this time started spinning the ghost in the air with his feet until he kicked the hunter into the ground.

While Skulker was down, Sampson grabbed the ghost's arm and bit down hard on the robotic exoskeleton. Sparks flew from where the suit was damaged, but Sampson didn't let go until some strange green goop was blasted into his eyes, causing him to stumble away.

The hunter ghost raised his arm at the gorilla and launched a glowing blue net at the creature. Even without his sight, Sampson was still capable of holding his own. He grabbed the net as it flew past him and swung Skulker around and around until the net eventually ripped itself apart and the ghost was sent flying through the observation tower window.

As soon as Selene got the green slime she guessed out of Sampson's eyes, the gorilla pursued Skulker into the tower.

Selene didn't follow the gorilla she'd spent a large majority of her day with and watch him continue to attack Skulker, although she would have enjoyed it. Instead, she flew to the opposite side of the tower and waited only a few moments until Skulker came flying through the wall.

The hunting ghost looked beyond angry, but that didn't stop Selene from taunting him. "You can catch any number of ghosts with whatever abilities they may possess, but a purple-back gorilla can kick your ass in less than two minutes." The smirk on her face made it evident she had enjoyed watching Skulker get his ass handed to him by a gorilla.

"Only because you were there to distract me first." He snarled.

Her smirk only grew as she said, "If that's what it takes to spare your pride, then keep telling yourself that. But we both know it would have happened whether I was there or not."

Skulker glared at her as she just floated in front of him, her arms crossed and a smirk still on her face. If he didn't know the consequences for attacking her, he would have done it right then with no hesitation. But he did know, and whatever satisfaction he got from it wouldn't be worth what he'd lose if he did.

Instead, Skulker turned away from Selene and left, deciding to ready himself for his next encounter with the ghost child that he hoped Selene wouldn't be a part of. He had to find a way to prevent her intervention.

Selene frowned as Skulker flew away. He'd be back soon, that much she could sense. Knowing her job was done for the night and that Danny would put Sampson back in his habitat, Selene flew to her home in order to get some sleep.

* * *

Nyx woke up early the next morning for two reasons. One: she had plans to hang out with Valerie. Two: she wanted to be out of the house as quickly as possible to avoid whoever was going to interview her mother for Genius Magazine.

The teen girl swiftly dressed herself in her normal one-shoulder navy blue tank top, black skinny jeans, and boots. She just as quickly made sure all her jewelry was in its normal place, the black crystal around her neck, a silver bracelet with six spikes on her left wrist, and multiple hoops in her ears. Afterwards, she grabbed a few things she'd told Valerie she'd bring and made her way out of her room.

Nyx had hoped she could get out of the house before the woman interviewing her mom showed up, but she was never that lucky. Her parents sat on the couch, Jazz beside them, and a dark skinned woman with rather puffy hair sat across from them.

"So, Maddie, what about the rest of your family? Were you the only one besides your husband to go into the field of science and inventing?" It was easy to hear the accent in the woman's voice that would make most immediately believe she was intelligent. Nyx immediately recognized her as Connie from Genius Magazine.

Maddie shook her head. "No, my sister and parents have always preferred to live simpler lives than the one I've chosen. Jazz here isn't all that interested in science and studies Psychology instead. Danny hasn't shown any interest in science and Nyx, his twin, only recently came home after six years away with an old friend of ours." It was at that moment she noticed her second daughter descending the stairs. "There she is right now actually."

Nyx cursed herself for her immense dislike of using her powers unless necessary and smiled in their direction. She turned to continue out the door, Connie wasn't ready to let her leave.

"Nyx Aurora Fenton correct?" Connie questioned the girl.

The rest of the Fenton family wondered how Connie knew Nyx's full name since no one had said it to her. It was Jazz that voiced it. "You know Nyx?"

Connie stood and walked over to the teen in question. "Nyx and I met a few years ago when Genius Magazine attempted to put her on the cover for her research on activating recessive genetic traits in living humans to alter characteristics like appearance and physical abilities."

The jaws of the rest of the Fenton family hit the floor at the information, even Jazz's.

"Unfortunately, Nyx refused to be interviewed and placed on the cover or even mentioned in the magazine." Connie informed.

Nyx nodded to confirm all she was saying, every bit of it true.

"Nyx, why would you turn down an opportunity like that?" Her sister asked. "It would have been good for you to have when applying for college and scholarships."

The youngest female Fenton nodded. She knew what things like that could do for her future and she was well aware of the doors that might have closed when she made the decision, but she wasn't worried. " _I know, Jazz. Let's just say I had my reasons and leave it at that."_

The oldest child was confused but respected her sister's choice. She may not have understood why Nyx had made the decision she did, but Jazz knew her sister was entitled to whatever secrets she had. Even though the two had constant contact, there were things they didn't tell each other. Not many, but a few. However, the two sisters had the courtesy to honor that there were somethings better left unsaid.

Nyx left quickly after her encounter with Connie, not wanting to be questioned more than she already was.

Nyx was halfway across town when she sensed Skulker in the same house with the rest of her family. She ducked into an alley where she let the familiar transformation take over her. A black shirt and pants with a purple slash across them, white boots and gloves, light blue skin, violet eyes, and white and purple ombre hair replaced her usual appearance in seconds.

Selene made a Nyx duplicate that continued to Valerie's house while she flew at top speed back to her house. Despite this, she didn't get there before Skulker had slammed her brother through the floor and into the dining room table beneath. It was only a moment later that Skulker grabbed Danny and phased both of them through he floor to the basement lab.

She scowled at the hole Skulker had created with her brother's body and wasted no time in following them to the basement lab. When she got there, Skulker was holding Danny up in the air by his throat.

"What are you doing?" Danny managed to asked, grasping at the giant hand around his neck.

Skulker had a crazy grin on his face as he said, "Bringing you back to my world, where I can put you on display." He held up his cage of trapped ghosts in his unoccupied hand.

"What!?"

"Ha! At last." Skulker began walking towards the portal, 'prize' in hand. "Time to put you in your cage."

"Noooo!" Danny cried with his hands trying to pry Skulker's off.

The path to the portal was suddenly not as clear as it was moments ago. Sam had slid between the portal and Skulker in order to prevent him leaving with Danny. "No is right, Danny. Cages are wrong. How do you think Sampson feels being in a cage?"

Selene furrowed her eyebrows. This is a really weird time to bring up the gorilla.

"But-" Skulker started.

"He's a beautiful animal and deserves to roam free!"

"I-"

"Should be ashamed."

Selene found it rather comical the way Sam continuously interrupted Skulker and finished his sentences how she thought they should. She'd even admit that the goth had earned Selene's respect since Sam had no way to defend herself yet was standing up to Skulker in a way she'd never seen anyone do.

Selene was going to intervene, stop Skulker from dragging Danny into the Ghost Zone, but Danny acted before she had to.

He kicked Skulker away, forcing the hunter to drop him as he flew back. Selene revealed her presence when she pushed Tucker out of the way of Skulker's over-sized robotic suit.

As he sat up, Skulker saw Tucker's dropped PDA not far from where the teen landed after the impact he'd had with the ghostly girl and picked it up. "That technology: so sleek, so… advanced." He looked at the old control panel on his wrist, then back at Tucker's PDA. "Hmm, I wonder…" He yanked the busted, outdated control panel off of his armor and dropped it on the floor. He then replaced its slot with the PDA. The PDA began to spark and the dangling wires that had come loose when he ripped out the old panel started waving around as if alive.

Tucker stood up behind Skulker and next to Selene who had also just stood up after crashing into the boy. "Hey, I got three more payments on that!"

Selene rolled her eyes. "Is that really a priority right now?" She saw the wires connect themselves to the newly inserted PDA when she realized just how things could get. "Crap."

Skulker glowed as his suit connected with the new technology of the PDA that acted as a major upgrade to the previously outdated tech.

Danny flew at Skulker just as he raised a new ecto-blaster on his wrist that he immediately shot at the halfa. Danny was thrown back at the wall, his arms and legs now bound with ecto-energy.

Skulker stepped towards Danny, the intent to take him into the Ghost Zone evident. "Say goodbye to this world, Ghost Child."

It was the end of the fight, at least as far as Danny, Sam, and Tucker could tell. Selene, however, was not ready to let this end as it was.

Selene stepped in front of her brother, her hands glowing with purple energy. "You're not taking him." Her words left no words for argument but that didn't stop Skulker from trying.

"The deal stands, Selene. You can't stop me."

Selene shook her head. "I don't care. He stays here, in this world. He's half human, meaning he's under my protection."

"He's also half ghost, meaning I can-" Skulker's argument was interrupted by beeping that came from the PDA in his wrist. ""Fly to library? Get a book on eating habits of purple-back gorilla?"" The wings on his jetpack extended while it powered up. He had hardly any time to turn intangible before being blasted through the ceiling of the lab.

The binds on Danny faded once Skulker got farther away.

"What happened?" Sam questioned as she helped Danny back to his feet.

"Who cares? At least I got a minute to relax and figure this out." Danny rubbed his wrist as he turned his attention to Selene who had allowed the glow around her hands to fade. "What was he talking about? "The deal stands", what deal?"

The voice of Maddie Fenton echoed through the house before Selene could answer. "Danny, where are you? Somebody here wants to meet you."

"D'oh! My room!" He phased through the ceiling to his room, leaving Selene in the lab with Sam and Tucker.

Sam crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised in the ghost's direction. "I'd still like that answer."

"What made you think he was going to get one?" Selene smirked as she closed the portal. "Hey, Tucker, were you and Danny planning to go to the library to do research about a gorilla?"

Tucker frowned finding it extremely odd that Selene would know their plans. "Yeah, why?"

"You may want to backup your schedule on your other PDA." She advised, not giving a straight answer as usual.

"How do you know he has another PDA?" Sam questioned, not happy about not getting any real information from the ghost.

Selene just raised an eyebrow. "Do you really need to ask that?"

* * *

Danny was on edge for the next few days after Skulker tried to drag him into the Ghost Zone. He had thought about asking Nyx for more information but put it off due to not her to get involved. It wasn't hard to realize that Skulker was dangerous and he had made it abundantly clear that he didn't care about what it took to capture his prize.

Nyx had been gone long before Danny had gotten up for school that day, showing her dislike for being around their family any more than she had to be. She had met up with Valerie before school to finish some homework even though it wasn't due for another week, both of them preferring to have it done early rather than scramble the day it was due.

She had sensed Skulker around town since the incident in the lab, but she wasn't concerned. Skulker has Tucker's PDA running his suit which also meant he was running on Danny's schedule. Once they realize they have such an obvious advantage over the hunter it'll be easy for Danny to send him back to the zone.

Ecto-chains binding Danny's arms to his sides so he couldn't do anything was the first attempt of the day.

Sam and Tucker yelled his name in surprise just before Skulker materialized out of blue fire in front of Danny.

"I have you now, child." Skulker aimed a wrist blaster at Danny, the buzz of it charging for a shot able to be heard by all of them.

If his stolen PDA hadn't beeped to alert him of the next event on his schedule Danny might have died the rest of the way.

"What?" He looked at the device, confusion written over his face. ""Go to the news stand and purchase magazine with article about purple-back gorillas?""

Just like in the lab his jetpack opened and flew him through the ceiling, Skulker yelling his surprise all the while. The chain bindings around Danny faded just like the ones before had.

Tucker checked the PDA in his own possession, the event sounding familiar. "Hmm, I have the same thing on mine."

"I think we'll blow that one off."

" _I'd recommend not following your schedule too closely."_ Nyx signed and Sam voiced her silent words.

"What's my schedule got to do with Skulker?" Danny questioned as he looked to his twin.

" _The PDA Skulker is using was synced to your schedule. The reason he keeps getting pulled away is because your schedule demands you go somewhere else."_

"I think she's right," Sam told the boys. "Why else would he have anything even remotely tied to a purple-back gorilla in his system?"

"That means that the hunter just became the hunted." Danny grinned as an idea formed. He turned to Nyx. "What do you know about the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter?"

The smirk that grew on Nyx's face was all too familiar to the trio.

* * *

Selene followed the trio to zoo only so that she would be close in the event Danny needed her help.

She had to admit watching Tucker force the giant robot that is Skulker due pushups and then polish his face just by pressing a few buttons on the PDA Skulker didn't steal was hilarious. When Skulker had shot an arrow at Tucker's PDA in order to stop his interference Selene may have gotten a bit worried ut she had no reason to be.

Samson, the giant purple-back gorilla she had been sitting with a few days ago when Skulker had first attacked Danny, had come to the rescue. The gorilla had held nothing back as the suit Skulker used was smashed to pieces and it was revealed why Skulker had a suit to begin with.

His ghost form was actually extremely small, so small that Danny easily held him in his hand while Tucker sucked him into a thermos.

Because the amazing discovery Danny made after the fight, he was featured on the cover of Genius Magazine. Mr. Lancer was reading the article a few days later in class and was shocked to find out no one at the zoo had gotten close enough to see that Samson was actually a female.

Nyx thought it was something that was pretty hard to miss enough from a distance but she digressed.

Lancer only upped Danny's grade from a D to a C, despite the fact that it was a major scientific find. Thankfully, the Box Ghost decided to make an appearance before their next class so Danny could work off some aggression about the unfair new grade.

* * *

 **I know it's been forever since I updated. Please don't hate me.**


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